Being that it only affects certain year cars, and also the fact that it goes unnoticed most of the time, it is not hard to imagine an underreporting of cases. How many times do you think someone's engine lets go and they actually find the reason? Most people throw a new engine in and don't investigate what was causing the low oil pressure. My car had no signs, but I had a visual inspection done of the timing area and found one in a state of degradation. While it is good not to worry people too much and cause them to waste money, having a sense of a known issue can help protect people in the future from losing a motor. Not only that, but if people are informed and do visual inspections it could save them tons of money later down the road.


It is apparently enough of an issue that at one point Nissan redesigned the gasket. There is a reason they did that.

 

^I agree with you entirely, I've asked both the Infiniti dealer and the Nissan dealer to provide an estimate. I also will be getting a price from the tuner shop. The tuner shop suggested to install an oil press/temp gauge for POM.


One question, the visual inspection that was done, was it done with a borescope?

 

Do you know how much an inspection cost at nissan and/or infiniti dealers?

 

No, my engine was out, so they just took off the front timing cover, and you can see the 2 gaskets. I imagine even with the engine in you should still be able to see them fine, but don't quote me on that.

 

This Nissan tech manager called me and said that the 2 Z's that had the timing seal issue were 350's not 370's. He did a global search on engine failures and low oil pressure issues and didn't find any issues with the Z370. He told me to bring the car by and he'll have one of his tech's check the oil pressure, but as far as he's concerned it's a non issue.

 

The exact same VQ that's in the G37 is in the 370Z. If there are this many instances of it in the G there's no way that it hasn't happened in the Z. But if he believes that and you believe it, so be it. But before you do you may want to check some of the larger Z forums to see if actual owners all around the world have reported it rather than 1 tech in one shop.

 

I checked the Infiniti IPC and found that prior to 2008 there were no gaskets on the timing cover. In 2008 P/N's 23797EY01A (right) and 23797JA10B (left) were installed. Probably because of issues with oil pressure loss. The same part number is currently being used on new engines. I could not find that there were any prior or subsequent part numbers ever used on our engines. Please advise if this is correct. I don't know what Z forms you are looking at, but no I couldn't find anything on this problem.

 

Have you actually read any of the earlier posts in this thread? There's a lot of relevant information regarding this.

 

I spent the last hour reading all of the posts and now know that the part numbers that I'm referencing are the wrong parts and indeed there is a new gasket. Now that I know the new part number, I can run this by the dealership since he told me that the part number had not changed and if I changed it, it would be the exact same gasket. This really puts me in a quandary. Should I get rid of the car, while it's still together, make the repair, or just hope that I'm among the masses and never see the problem?

 

If this is a repair you can DIY then I'd just drive it, keep close tabs on any changes in the sound of the motor, install a pressure gauge and do the repair if & when it rears it's head. That's my plan for my 09.
G/L

 

^Thanks again Brad, you also helped me with my brake questions. I've been sending my oil to Blackstone for analysis every oil change. I'm going to keep doing that, it would definitely show any unusual wear. Also, I'm going to have a OP gauge installed.

 

Your mind will be much more at ease with the gauge installed. If you get the gaskets, make sure not to pay dealer mark up. They should be roughly $25 for the larger one and I forget how much for the small one. Infiniti wanted $100+ for the larger one at my dealer.

 

How much do dealers charge for diagnosis and oil pressure check?

And what happens if we do not detect it until the oil pressure ligth comes on?

I am beginning to suspect that my inconsistent mpg (some days getting over 30 some barely exceeding 25, not bad but inconsistent) is maybe a result of oil pressure problems.

 

I can't help you there. I imagine it would be an hour job, so probably around $100, but I have never had it done. Once the light comes on you are already screwed. The threshold for it to illuminate is very low.

With your mpg issue, I would look more at the MAFs,O2 sensors, and cat converters for being your issue. Maybe also gunked up throttle bodies. Are these differences in MPG along the same route and staying same speed and same load? My MPG peaks in 6th gear at about 70 MPH and declines from there. Usually got somewhere around 28-30 highway. Any driving in the city brings it down dramatically.

 

The engine is quite clean but I will check maf's.

My main question was, although I understand that when the light comes on it is already too late but what changes if I detect the problem sooner? When I read the thread I didn't see any posts about preventing this.

It seems to me even if you catch the issue sooner you will still have to pay the same amount for repairs am I wrong?